Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am just outside Toledo Ohio, in the small town of Swanton (monclova Township for those that know the area)

does anyone happen to know the laws on Herps in Ohio, I can not find anything about it, and I really don't want to call and ask. Mainly because my fear is I will get some guy who don't like snakes and don't know the law who will tell me venomous is illegal just because his opinion is that it should be. (I am sure we all know people like this)

I have raised snakes for about 13 years now, everything from basic redtail boas, to retic pythons, to piebald ball pythons. I am wanting to get into "hot" snakes, and have gotten several opinions on what I should start out with. So far I have been told that I should get a pigmy rattler by one person, and someone else has told me to get a copperhead to start with, still another person said a mangrove or a hognose. Personally I don't really consider mangraves or hognose snakes to be venomous, due to being rear fanged, unless you actually let them chem on you for a while, your not going to get hurt. But with all these different inputs I am getting, I am rather confused on really what I should start out with.

Perhaps if I tell you what I personally like, it will help you to give advise on what I should start out with, and please, also tell me WHY. My favorite snakes (the ones I actually want to work up to) are the gold phase eyelash viper, the eastern and western gaboon viper, desert horned viper, and almost any Cobra with a nice colorfull hood (NO SPITTERS I will probably never want a spitter). I like colorfull (pretty to me at least) snakes. I also love rattlesnakes, specifically the timber rattler (endangered in Ohio, if anyone knows the extra laws on these in Ohio this would be nice as well), and the mojave rattler.

Thanks in advance for any tips anyone here can give me.

As for which hot you should start out with, that's up to you, just consider that you might want to start with a hot that can't deliver a potentially lethal bite, such as the massasaugas and pigmies. Also if you're into timber rattlers, pennsylvania has a hunting season on them(beleive it or not) that let's you take 1 per person per season from the wild(with a hunting permit), i think this season is in june and july. hope this helps.

Those are two hots which you absolutely can't have in Ohio- timbers and Eastern massasaguas are listed as endangered here.
Other than that, you'd need a permit for northern copperheads but there are no other statewide laws. Many regional laws apply, check your local listings...

>>As for which hot you should start out with, that's up to you, just consider that you might want to start with a hot that can't deliver a potentially lethal bite, such as the massasaugas and pigmies. Also if you're into timber rattlers, pennsylvania has a hunting season on them(beleive it or not) that let's you take 1 per person per season from the wild(with a hunting permit), i think this season is in june and july. hope this helps.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

there is a permit for the timbers as well, that part I do know

oh and the copperhead, I am told that you can own up to 4 without a permit, and more than 4 without a permit, if you have proof that they were collected from out of state. Any more than 4 that were collected in state then you need a permit. Isn't this correct?

I'll have to look into this timber permit, it's not mentioned in their little brochure. I want a canebrake very badly but was afraid I'd get busted because of the taxnomic change.
The paperwork makes it sound like you need a 10$ permit and with that you can own UP TO four WC coppers or black rats or whatever, and an unlimited number of CB's, and if you want to breed them you need a 25$ permit. But the wording is extremely confusing, especially on the actual application. I guess you can call the ODNR and ask for clarification. Just say you don't have any snakes yet and were curious. Don't mention copperheads either, you'll probably get them all flustered.
'Course then you have to get your natives PIT tagged. A local petstore here says PIT tags kill snakes slowly and painfully, but I don't really see that. My dog has one, and I know people tag expensive morph boids and such.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Good luck getting the ODNR to tell you anything. I have written them several times and they wont reply. It looked to me like you could have up to 4 without a permit also. I saw somewhere else where it said that DNR doesnt regulate non-native. I dont know if thats true or not...

If you go to the GCHS forum, there is a link to the Ohio DNR website that list the requirements. C. horridrus and massaugas are endangered, and therefore protected. Any native reptile requires a proprogation permit (commercial or non-commercial) and is required to be PIT tagged. This also applies to amphibians. Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Todd